College of Arts and Sciences

Faculty & Staff Profiles

Professor Nortz has been an instructor in the Department of Mass Communication at Winthrop for the past 10 years. He received his associate's degree in radio and television broadcasting from Herkimer County Community College and his B.S. in communications from Fredonia State, both located in New York State.  Nortz worked 13 years in television broadcasting for a CBS affiliate in Watertown, N.Y. While at WWNY TV 7, he held the position of chief photographer, news photographer, video editor, reporter, and segment producer for "7 News This Morning." His last three years at Channel 7 were spent on the management team as the assignment editor for the station's news shows. During his time at Channel 7, Nortz was recognized for his work by the Associated Press, the New York State Broadcasters Association, and the Syracuse Press Club. While serving as assignment editor for WWNY TV 7; he began working on his M.Ed. at the State University of New York at Potsdam.

While in the midst of his graduate studies Nortz accepted a position with the Jefferson Technical Center in Watertown as an instructor for a new program called New Vision. The program was designed for high school seniors looking to pursue a career in the field of mass communications. Because this was a new program, Nortz had to build it from the ground up. It required a curriculum that encompassed all areas of mass media while at the same time fulfilling the New York State requirements for English 12, government, and economics. It was during his time at the Jefferson Technical Center that he completed his M.Ed. degree. Also during this time he served on and chaired the Public Relations Committee that oversaw and produced a 20-minute recruiting video, a printed view book and brochure, and launched the "180 Degree" campaign that encouraged students to turn their lives around 180 degrees by enrolling at the Jefferson Technical Center.

Nortz also served as lead advisor and team leader for the student organization "Skills USA." After seven years at the Jefferson Technical Center, the time was right to look for new challenges. A job posting on the Winthrop website led him to apply for a vacant faculty position in the Department of Mass Communication.

At Winthrop, Nortz teaches courses in broadcast and video production. His Advanced Television Production class is responsible for 11 half-hour weekly news shows each semester. "Winthrop Close Up" is a student produced video news magazine that focuses on news in and around the Winthrop community. The show is available to the local community every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on the local cable station. It also can be seen on campus Monday through Sunday on Winthrop's campus movie channel as well as the classes own "You Tube" channel.  The show also has its own Facebook page and Twitter account.  The show has received numerous silver and gold awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas over the past ten years.

In addition to the lab classes, he also teaches a survey class that introduces students to mass media, a broadcast writing class, and the freshman human experience class. In addition to his teaching duties, he served on the committee that researched and developed Winthrop's new Digital Information Design major. He also serves on the Electronic Media Board and is the advisor to the Video Production Club and the campus radio station; WINR.  Outside of the classroom, Nortz, along with colleagues, has produced two video documentaries. "Losing Their Voices: A look at Local Radio" highlights the condition of local radio and "Duncan Park: The First 85 Years" looks at the rich history of a small town baseball stadium. Both documentaries aired on ETV as part of its "Southern Lens" independent film producers' series as well as on numerous PBS stations across the country. Nortz served as video photographer and editor for both half-hour documentaries. Since arriving at Winthrop, he also has produced marketing/promotional videos for the Office of the President, the College of Business and Technology, the College of Education, Sport, and Human Sciences, the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, University Relations and the University's Global Learning Initiative.

Nortz is not only a member of the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas, but he also serves on their board and conducts sessions on video production for the organizations yearly student workshop.   Nortz also belongs to the South Carolina Broadcasters Association and produces videos for their annual awards show and archives.  He is also a member of the Broadcasters in Education Association and has been a part of several discussion panels at their annual conference. Nortz is a member of the Industry Professionals Board for the video production classes at Fort Mill High School, served as the public address announcer for the boys Fort Mill Lacrosse team, and has worked with the York County Cultural and Heritage Museum on their "Keeper of the Culture" project.

Mark's wife Laurie '09 works for the United Way of Central Carolinas. They have two children.